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US Women's Soccer Players Protest 'Unequal Pay' During Recent Game

The United States women’s national soccer team athletes wore their jerseys inside out in relation to their latest protest regarding an ongoing pay conflict with the United States soccer federation.

According to The Associated Press, the USSF crest remained covered on their uniforms as the players stood for the national anthem before the team’s 3-1 victory over Japan in Frisco.

U.S. women's national team co-captain Megan Rapinoe stated that the USSF might have caused irreversible damage to its relationship with the players after a recent court filing in connection to the players' gender-discrimination lawsuit.

"We just wanted to show that that kind of rhetoric is completely unacceptable. I know that we're in a contentious fight but that crossed the line completely," Rapinoe said following their victory Wednesday.

Rapinoe added, "You wanna talk about hostility? Every negotiation that we have, those undertones are there, that we're lesser. Every mediation session that we had, any time we meet with them and obviously, the reason that we filed this lawsuit."

In response to the dispute, U.S. Soccer president Carlos Cordeiro issued an apology. Cordeiro apologized "for the offense and pain caused by the language in this week's court filing, which did not reflect the values of our Federation or our tremendous admiration for our Women's National Team."

"That wasn't for us. That's for fans, that's for the media, that's for sponsors. That all sounded pretty similar to what we had heard before. ... That all sounded pretty similar to what we had heard before. For him to put that out saying 'Sorry,' presumably to us, we don't buy it," Rapinoe said in response to Cordeiro's apology.

USWNT head coach Vlatko Andonovski also gave his statement regarding the happening.

"I was aware something was going to happen but I didn't want to ask any questions and didn't seek any further answers because I admire them for everything that they do and all the fights that they have. What makes them special is when the first whistle is blown, they're going to be 100 percent ready," he said.